Design guides

Conservation Areas

There are two main residential conservation areas in the Woodgrange area. The first, set up in 1976, is Woodgrange Conservation Area which covers the Woodgrange Estate. The other is the Durham Road Conservation Area, which covers the area south-west of Manor Park station to the Romford Road and was designated in 1984.

Woodgrange Conservation Area

Example of Woodgrange Estate housing stock

The main way that conservation works on the estate is through planning control. Anyone who wants to modify the external appearance of their property must apply to the Council for permission. The council then makes sure changes are in keeping with the rest of the estate. If an application is turned down, the applicant can appeal to the Secretary of State (see panel for an example).

Rules are strictly enforced and anyone who ignores them is liable to meet the full cost of restoring any changes back to the original, and may also face a hefty fine.

A detailed 'character appraisal and management' plan for the area has been adopted by Newham Council, and it explains why this is important. You can download the plan from the council's website, here.

Handy help

The council has also produced an informative and helpful set of guidelines for anyone contemplating making any changes.These provide much helpful advice for all residents on the estate. The document can be downloaded here, but if you want to view the different sections separately, they are reproduced (with kind permission of the council) in the panel on the left. These design guides have relevance for anyone keen to improve or extend their homes and are widely consulted by many residents in the locality.